Editing Jesus Prayer (section)

==Origins==
The prayer's origin is the [[Thebaid|Egyptian desert]], which was settled by the monastic [[Desert Fathers]] and [[Desert Mothers]] in the 5th century.<ref>Antoine Guillaumont reports the finding of an inscription containing the Jesus Prayer in the ruins of a cell in the Egyptian desert dated roughly to the period being discussed: {{lang|fr|Une inscription copte sur la prière de Jesus}} in {{lang|fr|Aux origines du monachisme chrétien, Pour une phénoménologie du monachisme}}, pp. 168–183. In {{lang|la|Spiritualité orientale et vie monastique}}, No 30. Bégrolles en Mauges (Maine & Loire), France: Abbaye de Bellefontaine.</ref> It was found inscribed in the ruins of a cell from that period in the Egyptian desert.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stroumsa |first=Gedaliahu G. |date=1980 |title=GUILLAUMONT, ANTOINE, Aux origines du monachisme chrétien: Pour une phénoménologie du monachisme, Spiritualité orientale 30 - F 49720 Bégrolles en Mauge, Editions de l'Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1979, 241 p |language=fr |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156852780x00099 |journal=Numen |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=287–288 |doi=10.1163/156852780x00099 |issn=0029-5973}}</ref>

A formula similar to the standard form of the Jesus Prayer is found in a letter attributed to [[John Chrysostom]], who died in AD&nbsp;407. This "Letter to an Abbot" speaks of "[[Lord Jesus Christ]], son of God, have mercy" and "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on us" being used as ceaseless prayer.<ref>{{lang|la|[http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/pgm/PG_Migne/John%20Chrysostom_PG%2047-64/Epistula%20ad%20abbatem.pdf Epistula ad abbatem]}}, p. 5</ref>

What may be the earliest explicit reference to the Jesus Prayer in a form that is similar to that used today is in ''Discourse on Abba Philimon'' from the {{lang|grc-Latn|[[Philokalia]]}}. Philimon lived around AD&nbsp;600.<ref>{{cite book |author=McGinn, Bernard |title=The essential writings of Christian mysticism |publisher=Modern Library |location=New York |year=2006 |page=125 |isbn=0-8129-7421-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rKkJs-KHCakC&pg=PA125}}</ref> The version cited by Philimon is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me", which is apparently the earliest source to cite this standard version.<ref>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=G. E. H. |title=The Philokalia |volume=2 |date=15 September 2011 |publisher=Faber |location=London |page=507 |isbn=9780571268764 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBkJAARHyoMC&pg=PA507}}</ref> While the prayer itself was in use by that time, [[John S. Romanides]] writes that "We are still searching the Fathers for the term 'Jesus prayer'."<ref name="romanides" />

A similar idea is recommended in the ''[[Ladder of Divine Ascent]]'' of [[John Climacus]] (circa 523–606), who recommends the regular practice of a {{lang|grc-Latn|monologistos}}, or one-worded "Jesus Prayer".<ref name="Mathewes-Green2009" /> The use of the Jesus Prayer according to the tradition of the {{lang|grc-Latn|Philokalia}} is the subject of the 19th century anonymous Russian spiritual classic ''[[The Way of a Pilgrim]]'', also in the original form, without the addition of the words "a sinner".<ref name="wayofpilgrim" />